Today in Supreme Court History: November 20, 1910

11/20/1910: Justice William Henry Moody retired.

Justice William Henry Moody

Comments

[Dan Schiavetta]

Osborne v. County of Adams, 106 U.S. 181 (decided November 20, 1882): a steam grist mill is not an "internal improvement" under state statute authorizing county to issue bonds for construction; statute deals only with railroads and related structures (not clear why there's federal court jurisdiction here; the lower court seemed to say there wasn't, yet decided the merits anyway, 7 F. 441)

O'Neil v. Northern Colorado Irrigation Co., 242 U.S. 20 (decided November 20, 1916): farmer objecting to a water utility plugging up his ditch in accordance with water priority decree in another district (where only district residents could be heard) was barred by four-year statute of limitations for contesting the decree, even though they didn't come by to plug it up until 30 years later (seems unfair to me)

Gottschalk v. Benson, 409 U.S. 63 (decided November 20, 1972): a program to be used on a computer was not a patentable process because it was merely an abstract "principle"; the program here changed numbers from "binary coded" to "pure binary", for example changing 53 from 5 then 3 (0101 0011) to 53 all in one bunch (110101)

[Estragon]

I think “justice a-leako” has a nice ring to it. What do you think, Josh??

Also, where do breyer’s clerks go for an apology?

[Frank Drackman]

Sammy "The Knife" a Rat???? Don't believe it.

[Rev. Arthur L. Kirkland]

Not here, a shabby record indicates.

But who knows? Perhaps this could be a precipitate for improvement.

[Estragon]

Could be… equally likely we never hear of it again. Like Dr. Eastman!

[Mr. Hook]

Possible reactions:
1) Unless Alito admits it, there's no compelling evidence / this is a liberal plot.
2) If a liberal justice had done it, the media wouldn't care, so we shouldn't care about this.
3) It's only an outrage if a clerk leaked, not a justice, so big deal.
4) Ha ha, tough shit, libs.
5) This is bad and goes beyond politics, and so for the sake of the Court's integrity and respect, there needs to be meaningful consequences for this leak.*

* In theory, this could happen, tho it's more likely to snow in Fiji.

[Estragon]

Huckleberry commenters will go with 1, 2 and 4. The proprietors will probably choose door 6: the memory hole

[Bob from Ohio]

"no compelling evidence"

Yeah, who cares about double hearsay anyways.

[Estragon]

Bingo we have a winner on door one!!! Double hearsay— is that like double secret probation or what? Frank “knowledge is good” Drackman knows what I’m talking about

[LawTalkingGuy]

Setting aside the fact that the concept of hearsay makes little sense outside of a courtroom, It’s only one layer of hearsay if only Schenk testifies. It’s not hearsay if Wright testifies to the statement.

Shenck is using Wright’s statements to him to prove that Alito told her about the decision. That’s hearsay. He’s using Wright’s (out of court) statement to prove the truth of the matter asserted (Alito leaked the outcome).

Wright’s alleged statement, “Alito wrote Hobby Lobby” is not hearsay because it’s not being used for the truth of the matter asserted. Whether Alito wrote Hobby Lobby isn’t in dispute and the statement of Wright to Schenk is only about whether Alito said that, not whether the statement is true. Her statement is simply evidence based on personal knowledge that a statement was made.

[Bob from Ohio]

"Wright’s alleged statement, “Alito wrote Hobby Lobby” is not hearsay "

Good try. Wright's hearsay is the date of the statement.

"Alioto told me on X date [before announcement that he wrote" That is very much in dispute.

[LawTalkingGuy]

That it’s disputed to have happened does not go to whether it’s hearsay or not. “Alito told me about Y on date X” is eye-witness testimony. Statement Y is not being used for the truth of the matter asserted just that a statement was made. And X is also obviously based on her own perception. Schenk saying: “Wright said Alito told her about Y on date X” is the only hearsay.

[LawTalkingGuy]

Zillow Ed Whelan is going with: sharing outcomes with a small group of insiders isn’t as bad as sharing with the general public.

[Estragon]

LOL these things just write themselves don’t they

[Frank Drackman]

Jerry!!!!!!!!!!! out of "Protective Custody" at last? Don't drop the Soap!!

Frank

[F.D. Wolf]

Moody’s name first came into national prominence when, as the district attorney of Essex County, Mass., he was called upon in 1892 to assist prosecutors in Bristol County who had a most difficult case on their hands. It seemed a young socialite named Lizzie Borden had allegedly murdered her parents with an axe. The case would become a national sensation, and though an acquittal in the case was pre-ordained, Moody received acclaim in the national press for his conduct in the case, particularly his cross-examination of the defendant.

He had also garnered the attention of the state GOP, and Sen. Henry Cabot Lodge convinced him to run for a House seat, which he successfully did in 1895. That same year, Theodore Roosevelt, then a police commissioner of New York City, visited Boston, where he met with Moody. The two became fast friends, bonding over their similar views on a great deal, from Progressive politics to a belief in America’s “manifest destiny” to the importance of “the strenuous life”, stressing the importance of physical culture. (Moody was a fit, athletic man. At Harvard, he had been not only a stellar student, but also captain of the baseball team.)

In 1902, shortly after Roosevelt became President, he appointed Moody Secretary of the Navy. Under Moody’s leadership, the U.S. constructed the naval base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, (still in use today) and the naval base at Subic Bay, the Philippines (decommissioned in 1992). After two years in that position, Roosevelt named him Attorney General. Moody shared Roosevelt’s enthusiasm for trust-busting, and, as AG personally tried some of the bigger anti-trust cases himself.

Roosevelt appointed Moody to the Supreme Court in 1906. By 1908, Moody was suffering from arthritis which was rapidly becoming worse. By 1909, Moody could no longer attend Court sittings. President Taft convinced Congress to pass a special bill allowing Moody to retire with a pension for which he would not otherwise have qualified, and Moody stepped down in 1910. I believe that had his tenure not been cut so short for health reasons, he would have gone down as one of the great justices, perhaps even to the level of Oliver Wendell Holmes, another Roosevelt appointment.

[David Nieporent]

Thanks. I always find these extra biographical snippets you provide to be interesting.

[F.D. Wolf]

Thank you. I'm sure most are familiar with the macabre children's nursery rhyme of the period:

Lizzie Borden took an ax.
She gave her mother forty whacks.
When she saw what she had done,
She gave her father forty-one.
Lizzie Borden got away.
For her crime she did not pay.

If Lizzie Borden had never [allegedly] chopped up her father and stepmother, would Moody have been set upon the road that led him to Congress, Roosevelt's Cabinet, and the Supreme Court?